Conference reports

straints. Even the Moslem calendar. based on the moon-cycles, is a con- straining factor because farmers’ voc- abulary on time-divisions is not based on the natural growing seasons. Many other constraints were presented and discussed, such as unsuitable land tenure regulations and procedures, unsuitable regulations for distribution of irrigation water and lack of struc- tural support for prices, marketing and credit.

Political pressure for fast realization of large irrigation projects tends to destabilize physical resources and ex- isting local structures and underesti- mate the complications involved for water allocation between population centres, industries and agriculture. Often equally underestimated are costs and organization for follow-up measures as agricultural extension, information, education and research. Presentations from Madagascar dealt with the survival strategy of local farmers in irrigation schemes compris- ing of partial neglect of rice produc- tion, redistribution of irrigation water and more emphasis on production of animal feed, fruits and vegetables.

Unforeseen effect

‘Ex-post evaluation of water manage- ment in the Senegal river basin - macro aspects, large- and small-scale irrigation’, was the subject of Work- shop 4. There was a unanimous deci- sion to coordinate research and orga- nization for operation of these river basin development schemes in order to facilitate a reasonable continuation of the original investments in two dams and 500 000 ha of irrigated land. This investment caused several prob- lems in Senegal: traditional agricultu- ral and pastoral communities along the river banks have been socially and ecologically upset by the initiation of relatively alien production systems for which no adaptation period was plan- ned; repayments on initial investments have become a heavy economic bur- den for Senegal; and an important unforeseen effect of the schemes has been to cause a rural exodus to towns and cities, which has been partially emphasized by continuous drought in the Sahelian region since 1968.

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Follow-up activities in price sup- port, marketing, credit, research and extension services will be necessary for a long period. This will require a continued financial input accomp- anied by flexible management.

General conclusions

(1) Local socioeconomic, legal and cultural situations need to be taken into consideration in the planning and running of projects and in the intro- duction of new technologies. (2) Ex- ternal interventions in finance, tech- nology and organization often has a disruptive effect on the ecological resource base, the negative effect of which needs to be minimized. (3) Rehabilitation of many projects in irrigation and agro-hydrology con- tinues to be necessary and should be accompanied by thorough research in physical conditions, socioeconomic situations, readjustment of public policies on land tenure, water alloca- tion and distribution. and pricing, marketing and credit for agricultural products.

Participants of the seminar were mainly technicians and researchers, with a result that discussions on policy matters demonstrated the need for guidance by policy makers and polit- icians. However, one exception was Mr Lahlou, a regional product man- ager from Morocco, whose interven-

Profitable farming urban shadow

tions carried considerable weight on issues such as structural reform, exten- sion , education, water distribution regulations and the need for privatiza- tion of land use.

The format of the seminar - with predefined topics in agro-hydrology - was useful on the one hand to keep discussions between certain limits. but meant that important subjects on poli- cy formulation, planning and monitor- ing of defined land use policies (es- pecially in river basin development) were not brought forward.

The seminar lacked experiences from Asian countries such as China, Pakistan, India and Indonesia where water management for agriculture is part of daily life. No mention was made of the severe constraint on irrigation development in Africa by water-borne diseases such as schisto- somiasis, filariasis and malaria and on the need for specific public policies on public health and primary health care to prevent disposal of human excreta directly into open water.

Aty van Oosten Biganon, France

The final report of the seminar, Including all contributions and plenary discussions, will be available in mid-1987 as No 6 of the general reports of the Agricultural Systems Department (DSA) of CIRAD, Avenue du Valde Montferrand, BP 5035, 34032 Mont- pellier, Cedex, France.

in the

Conference on Sustaining Agriculture Near Cities, sponsored by the Tufts University School of Nutrition, Boston, MA, USA, 20-21 November 1986

Sustaining the viability of agriculture in the shadow of urbanization was the subject of a national conference held in Boston in November 1986. The conference featured over 50 presenta- tions by academicians, federal, state and local agricultural officials, land use planners and persons directly in- volved in farming and farm-related industries in the US and Canada.

Conference Coordinator William Lockeretz of the Tufts University

School of Nutrition, the conference sponsor, emphasized in his opening remarks that the participants would not be looking at sustaining agricul- ture from the limited perspective of agricultural lands preservation through land use regulation. Rather, the speakers would focus upon prog- rammes and agricultural strategies which would enable farming opera- tions to remain-or become -viable in the face of urbanization, preferably

LAND USE POLICY July 1987

without the crutch of preferential land use regulations.

The inherent threats to agriculture from nearby land development and urban sprawl are no secret to land use planners and farmers. The ‘urban shadow effect’ is a term which summa- rizes the adverse effects upon existing farming operations from the establish- ment of nearby, non-farm land activi- ties. Theft of crops, vandalism or theft of equipment, and decreasing crop and livestock yields due to stress or urban noise, air and water pollution, are all potential threats to neighbour- ing farms.

Threats to farms

The continued viability of a farm may be further threatened by dramatic increases in property taxes or the exodus from the area of vital agri- cultural support services such as im- plement and seed dealers, grain eleva- tors and milk or livestock processors. Finally, the ‘new ruralites’ working or residing near the farms may object to the natural consequences of farming - barnyard odours, equipment and animal noises, etc. Pressure may then come to bear on local governmental officials to terminate the offending agricultural operation.

While many farmers regard the arrival of urbanization, and the con- comitant increase in property values, as a welcome avenue of escape from farming, many others would prefer to remain in operation if their farms could remain profitable in the face of nearby urban growth. The Boston conference brought together govern- ment officials, academicians and far- mers to share ideas and programmes intended to afford farmers the oppor- tunity to remain in farming on the urban fringe, if that is what they desire.

Farming formula

The opening speaker, Booker T. Whateley, an Alabama farmer, ex- plained the fundamentals of a farming formula he developed to actually ex- ploit the nearby urbanites and the farm markets they represent. What- eley’s ‘$100 000, twenty-five acre

LAND USE POLICY July 1987

small-farm concept and plan’ de- scribes a small ‘you-pick-it’ operation which entices city dwellers to venture out to the farm and pay for the privilege of picking and purchasing farm-fresh produce at the source.

Among the farming principles espoused by Whateley are the follow- ing:

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0

0

0

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Concentrate on ‘high-value crops’ yielding at least $3000 per acre. Diversify - feature at least ten different crops to minimize the adverse impact of isolated crop failures. Operate as a ‘clientele membership club’ charging a $25 annual fee for the right to pick and purchase crops. This provides some degree of control over who is present on your farm and also provides an incentive for members to come out and pick and purchase. Sell produce only by weight - Whateley is astounded at the amount of waste material urban pickers will include - and pay for - with their produce. Locate your farm no more than 40 miles from an urban area of at least 50 000 people. Grow only crops that consumers demand. Do not grow crops be- cause you like to grow them, or because you think you can change people’s eating habits.

Other urban-area farmers participat-

The concept of urban ‘farmers’ mar-

ing in the conference similarly advo- cated direct marketing as a means of

kets’ was also discussed both by far-

profitable farming in the shadow of urban areas. Other proprietors of

mers who market in that manner and

‘you-pick-it’ operations stressed the importance of marketing the picking

by community development profes-

activity itself as a form of entertain- ment and education - in addition to being a source of quality produce. In that regard, several direct marketers from the northeastern US stressed their perceptions that the quality of the experience their customers had at the farm, as well as the quality of the produce, is generally more important than the price of the goods.

Conference reports

sionals who have helped to establish farmers’ markets in urban settings. Several farmers stated that direct marketing at these urban markets provides a needed supplement to the revenues realized from their ‘you- pick-it’ operations.

Two common threads emerged from the conference sessions devoted to direct marketing. There appear to be two characteristics inherent to farming operations which are thriving near urban areas. First, it is necessary to focus upon high value crops - primarily fruits and vegetables - in order to overcome the unavoidably higher costs associated with farming on the urban fringe. Second, rather than merely striving to peacefully co- exist with the adjoining metropolis, farmers must aggressively seek to ex- ploit the urban area and the potential markets that cities provide.

Environmental issues

Other presentations at the conference dealt with environmental issues associ- ated with farming near cities, includ- ing: pesticide migration onto adjoin- ing lands, the use of municipal sewage sludge in agriculture (an agreement to accept sewage sludge can be an addi- tional source of income for farmers, as well as a production input), and waste management upon the farm itself.

Roger Blobaum, who is with the Family Farm Defense Fund in Washington, DC, opened the confer- ence with an observation of such

Several speakers described methods employed at the state and local levels to prevent the conversion of produc- tive farmland to other land uses. However, as William Lockeretz stres- sed, farmland preservation and the preservation of farming as a viable profession on the urban fringe are two distinct issues. The Boston conference was intended as an exchange of in- formation relating to the maintenance of the viability of farming on the urban fringe. Farmland preservation mea- sures - land banking, development rights purchases, etc - are often thinly veiled programmes to preserve open space as an amenity for nearby urban areas, and not necessarily as profitable farmland.

349

significance that it shall serve as the closing thought in this summary of an excellent and timely conference. Blo- baum has found that local govern- ments frequently do very little to aid and preserve agriculture near their communities. However, these same cities will often bend over backwards ~ to say nothing of opening wide the city’s coffers ~ to entice small manu- facturing plants to locate in their area.

Blobaum argued that these same

communities could create more jobs and associated economic activity - as well as bolstering a community’s sag- ging spirits - by helping to promote and preserve the withering agricultu- ral activity in their area rather than relentlessly chasing smokestacks.

Nels R. Leutwiler Kansas State University

Manhattan, KS, USA

Book reviews Providing a better environment

HOUSING AS IF PEOPLE MATTERED

Site Design Guidelines for Medium- Density Family Housing

Clare Cooper Marcus and Wendy Sarkissian, with Sheena Wilson and Donal Per Lgut

University of California Press, Ber- keley and Los Angeles, CA, USA, 1986, 324 pp, f33.95 hb

The raism d’Btre of planned housing is to provide better environments, and designers have always tried to work as if people mattered. However, they have generally assumed that planning knows better than the residents and that professional principles should be applied to the exclusion of resident consultation. This is now recognized as unjustified arrogance that tries to force diverse humanity into the same idealized mould, which has resulted in many problem estates with acute frus- tration and social breakdown.

The current trend is to add a new dimension to the concept of ‘as if people mattered’ by taking account of residents’ wishes. There are various approaches to this reform and the one that is expounded here may be de- scribed as ‘mass consultation’. The authors have analysed about 100 post- occupancy evaluation studies of resi- dents’ reactions and have distilled the general direction of preferences in

350

respect of 254 basic considerations. This has led to nearly a thousand recommendations, termed ‘possible design responses’, which concern the common parts and exteriors of the buildings and the layout of the grounds, and seek to minimize the conflicts that arise when spaces are shared by different households.

The results and their rationale are presented in lucid language, with a clear layout for easy reference and 230 plans and photographs that leave no doubt as to what is considered good or bad. The book is a tour de force within its own frame of reference and will no doubt enjoy considerable prestige.

However, there are several fun- damental weaknesses, to which read- ers should be alerted. The first is that the analysis of the evaluation studies is insufficiently explicit. We are not told how many of the 100 studies men- tioned any given topic, nor what prop- ortion of respondents in each study were for or against each recommenda- tion. Without this information it is impossible to judge the relative value of the various proposals, or to estab- lish priorities for scarce funds. If only 51% of the respondents in only two of the studies favoured Recommenda- tion A, it should not take precedence over Recommendation B supported by 90% of respondents in 90 studies, and it is hoped a more quantitative supplement will be issued as a follow up. It would be particularly useful in resolving the doubts that arise when

the book advocates mutually contra- dictory courses in different sections.

A second weakness is the naivety of accepting stated preferences at their face value, without probing more deeply. Without belittling the first- hand understanding that residents have of their living environment, it is wise to heed the sociological warning that what people say and how they behave are sometimes two very diffe- rent things. This is reasonable enough. People are often ill at ease without being precisely aware of the causes of dissatisfaction and if, indeed, all causes were crystal clear to residents they would long since have ceased to elude designers. In such a state of uncertainty there is a tendency to blame the most obvious feature of the estate, which, if accepted uncritically. could lead to pointless expenditure on its ‘improvement’, while leaving the real causes unchanged. For example. people dislike, by association, the porthole type windows in the Runcorn Estate illustrated on page SO, but my own behavioural study of the same estate has revealed I4 other de- trimental design features which also tend to produce social breakdown in thousands of other blocks. Proposals have been made for improving ten of

these and, if this were done, the round

windows might no longer be perceived

as disadvantageous. There are, in fact.

cases where circular windows are

voluntarily introduced by newly priva-

tized owners.

Dwelling entries

Similarly, tenants on the same estate complain of being able to see vast

numbers of dwelling entries. Howev- er. behavioural studies show it is not

intervisibility, but shared approaches

to entrances that are at fault. If

entrances are fenced off individually,

intervisibility appears to be a positive

surveillance factor in the prevention of

crime. These and other examples of

shifted blame illustrate the danger of

building on mere opinion without the

corrective discipline of independent

test measures.

A third weakness of the book is that

the authors cannot break free of the

planning ethos to which they are

LAND USE POLICY July 1987